Rare 17th Century Oil Painting - Pastoral Scene W/ Still Life & Animals - 26½" x 41¼"

This late 17th-century oil on canvas depicts a pastoral fantasy that seamlessly unites still life and animal painting. In a wide horizontal composition, baskets of cabbages, leeks, onions, grapes, and a halved melon are arranged among sheep, goats, rabbits, poultry, and a vigilant dog. The lively assembly unfolds before rocky hills, distant water, and tall trees. A restrained blue-green palette, enlivened by sparing red accents in fruit, combs, and plumage, enhances the decorative harmony. The work is presented in a simple giltwood frame, subtly painted and incised with rosettes that contrast beautifully with the cool tones of the canvas. Though the varnish has mellowed with age, the painting retains remarkable vibrancy and expressive detail, showing only scattered abrasions and minor edge losses. The frame, too, is well preserved, with only gentle rubbing and small gilding losses consistent with age.

This hybrid subject reflects the Baroque taste for abundance and the fluid boundaries of the period between pastoral landscape, market still life, and animal painting. Scenes celebrating larders, game, and rural plenty were popular in Antwerp workshops associated with Frans Snyders and Jan Fyt, and echoed in Northern Italy, where Caravaggesque light animated produce and livestock. The restrained chromatic scheme, punctuated with terse reds, is characteristic of late 17th-century decorative painting conceived for dining rooms and galleries.

Today, this exceptional work is especially suited to a dining room, library, or paneled entryway. Its broad horizontal format anchors a wall above a sideboard, mantel, or settle, while the giltwood frame with its delicate palmette motifs lends refinement without distraction. A warm picture light will gently bring out the modeling of fruit and animals, and nearby faience or burnished pewter can echo its Old World atmosphere without competing with the composition.